Fabio Capello to Step Down After Euro 2012

The 2012 European Championships will be Fabio Capello’s last tournament in charge of the Three Lions.

“As an England manager, this is it for me,” Capello told reporters.

England supporters, you can finally thank your lucky stars.

At this point, it’s safe to admit that Capello is not the right man for the England job.

Like many other football experts, I believe that the England boss should be an Englishman, making Spurs boss Harry Redknapp the top candidate to fill Capello’s shoes.

“This time it will be stronger,” Capello added.

“It will be stronger because if you look at the groups and all the  teams, particularly the three European teams who reached the World Cup  semi-finals; the technical level is at the top, the organisation of the  teams is at the top.

“Also some teams who didn’t play well at the World Cup will now be back at the top.

“Portugal, France and Italy will be better. It will be a really tough tournament.”

Capello also admitted that he would prefer to avoid the Republic of Ireland, who are led by Italian boss Giovanni Trapattoni, in the group stages.

“The countries are close and also it would be two Italian managers, so I prefer not to be drawn with them.

“We cannot draw Italy as we are in the same pot, but this would be the same for me to face another Italian manager.

“[I would like to avoid] Spain and Holland.

“After that there is also Portugal and  France. These are the teams I would prefer to avoid in the group stage.”

Capello added that England’s young stars will play if they are good enough.

At the moment, the likes of Danny Welbeck, Phil Jones, and Daniel Sturridge seem to be giving the Italian a selection headache with their impressive performances.

“The young players can play if they are good enough,” added Capello.

“When we went to South Africa the gap between the older players and younger players was too big.

“Now the gap is closer and they younger players are improving a lot,  they are playing with important teams at the top and in the Champions  League and Europa League.

“In this situation you know something more as a player. It is really important.”

After considering all of the following factors, do England have a realistic chance of winning Euro 2012?

It’s possible, but a huge amount of luck would be involved.

After all, England would surely be considered underdogs against any top European power.